What is a processor (CPU)?
Brain of the computer
- does all the thinking (Processing)
- takes information from the inputs (Keyboards, mouse, scanner etc.)
- processes the information (thinks about the commands given and reproduces them into binary instructional codes)
- then outputs the processing to the output devices (screen, printer, GPU)
What is the rule of a processor (CPU)?
Faster the CPU, the faster the machine can process instructions.
Examples of some processor manufacturers?
Intel with its Core and Xeon range, Celeron and AMD are the 3 main manufacturers.
What is a motherboard?
This is the main component inside all computers and is a base for all the other components to connect to. It is complimented by the CPU.
What is secondary storage?
- Non volatile
- Where all data (operating systems, applications and user files) are stored when not in use.
- Includes magnetic hard disk drives, solid state drives, CDs and SD Cards.
- Read/write speeds much slower compared to primary storage
What is a magnetised hard disk drive and how does it work?
- Traditional internal storage in PCs and laptops.
- Made of magnetised metal disks spinning at a rate between 5400 and 15000 rpm.
- Data stored magnetically in small areas called sectors within circular tracks.
- Read/write heads on a moving arm used to access sectors on disks.
Advantages and Disadvantage of a hard disk drive?
Adv:
- Portable HDDs popular for backing up and transporting large amount of data.
- Long lasting and reliable
- Can be damaged by large impacts like being dropped
What is a solid state drive?
- Storage device with no moving parts
- Most use a type of flash memory
- Used for internal storage
Advantages of a solid state drive?
- Significantly faster read/write times than HDDs.
- Quicker booting up times and opening programs and files.
- Portable SSDs can be used to back up and transport data.
- Much quicker to get the data as there is no moving parts.
What is a optical disc?
- They are things like CDs, DVDs and Blu-Ray discs.
- Data stored as microscopic indentations on shiny surface of disc.
- Data read by shining a laser beam on surface and detecting changes in the position of the reflected beam.
Advantages and Disadvantage of optical discs?
Adv: - Very cheap (per GB) - Portable - wont be damaged by water or shocks Disadv: - easily scratched - DVD-Rs and DVD-RWs were popular for backing up data but cant compete with flash storage devices due to low capacity per disc.
What is a magnetic tape?
- Often used by large organisations in archive libraries to store huge amounts of data.
- Comes in plastic cassettes (containing reel of tape).
- Tape read/written sequentially, meaning it is read/written from beginning to end, or until it is stopped by computer.
Advantages and Disadvantages of magnetic tape?
Adv:
- Greater storage capacity than HDDs
- Extremely low cost per GB
- Fast read/write speed once it is in correct place to begin
Disadv:
- Tape is slow when trying to find specific data stored on it.
Give other types of flash storage? Also, give some advantages and disadvantages for them?
- USB pen drives and memory cards
- These are also flashed based, solid state storage
Adv: - expand storage capacity of small devices like cameras, smartphones and tablets. As too small for SSDs or HDDs.
Disadv: - Slower than SSDs and much shorter read/write life.
What is SCSI?
- Small computer system interface (SCSI) is a parallel interface used by Apple computers and many more to attach peripheral devices to the computer system.
- Provide data transmission rates of up to 80 megabytes per second.
- can attach multiple devices to a single SCSI port, so that SCSI is really an input/output bus rather than simply an interface.
What is SAS?
- Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) is a peripheral interface that is used to link controllers directly to the disk drives.
- Performance improvement over SCSI as enables multiple devices (up to 128) of different sizes and types to be connected simultaneously with thinner and longer cables.
What is cloud storage?
- Cloud storage is a service that is provided where your data is stored, managed and backed up remotely by a specialist data center.
- When you want access to the files and data you connect to the server
